Defense stole it from TNT

It looked like Talk N Text would equalize the best-of-7 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Fiesta Conference Finals in Game 2 at the Big Dome last Sunday until San Miguel Beer went back to basics.

In San Miguel coach Joseph Uichico’s dictionary, "basics" means defense. That’s what brought the Beermen to the Finals. That’s what keyed San Miguel’s 74-66 win in Game 1 and that’s what stole Game 2 from the Phone Pals.

You can almost hear Uichico repeat the clichés — you never have an off-day with defense and defense wins championships.

But wait. Two wins don’t clinch a best-of-7 series. Four wins do. San Miguel is halfway to the Promised Land but the road to glory is like an obstacle course. You’re never sure of reaching your destination until you get there.

And if any team’s capable of bouncing back from a 0-2 deficit in a best-of-7 war, it’s Talk N Text.

Flashback to the 2003 PBA All-Filipino Cup Finals between the Phone Pals and Coca-Cola.

Coach Chot Reyes’ Tigers zoomed to a 2-0 start, bowling over Talk N Text, 93-79, in Game 1 and 92-89 in Game 2. Then the tide turned. Like a sandstorm in the desert, the Phone Pals raged with a fury that left the Tigers toothless. Talk N Text took Game 3, 97-81, then Game 4, 99-91 and Game 5, 97-92 in overtime before sealing Coca-Cola’s doom in Game 6, 78-76. That was a 4-0 sweep from a 0-2 slump.

Eight players from the Phone Pals’ 2003 title roster are back in coach Joel Banal’s lineup for the San Miguel series. Added to the cast were Willie Miller, Yancy de Ocampo, Don Camaso, Nino Gelig and import Jerald Honeycutt.

In last Sunday’s Game 2, patience paid off for the Beermen. San Miguel was down by 17 at the half as the Phone Pals held a huge advantage in turnover points, 22-4. Vic Pablo singlehandedly triggered an 8-0 blast to push Talk N Text’s edge to 19 before Dondon Hontiveros knocked down two free throws to settle the halftime count at 47-30.

Then, Honeycutt greeted the third period with a trey to stretch the Phone Pals’ lead to 20 at 50-30. Slowly, San Miguel crept back into the thick of things. Talk N Text entered the penalty situation with nine minutes to go and San Miguel mercilessly capitalized by sinking 14-of-17 free throws in the quarter compared to the Phone Pals’ 4-of-7.

Still, Talk N Text was up by nine to start the fourth period. But San Miguel kept pecking away at the lead. Eventually, the Phone Pals’ hot outside shooting grew cold. That was Uichico’s gamble. He goaded Talk N Text to shoot from the perimeter by playing zone and while the Phone Pals were on target in the early going, their accuracy began to falter down the stretch. Uichico then put the clamps on Banal’s key players, particularly Honeycutt who was repeatedly bottled up by a double team. San Miguel also took away Talk N Text’s pick-and-roll by anticipating, jump-switching and avoiding mismatches.

In the last 3:40, the Phone Pals were shut down by San Miguel’s suffocating defense and the Beermen used a 15-2 closing bomb to eke out an 81-79 decision. San Miguel scored the final eight points of the cliffhanger.

Talk N Text missed its last five attempts, a triple each from Jimmy Alapag and Miller, a jumper and a follow-up from Honeycutt and a put-back from Asi Taulava. Pablo also flubbed two free throws in the final seconds.

Alapag and Miller were a combined 4-of-16 from the floor and neither finished in twin digits. The Phone Pals committed 13 turnovers in the second half compared to San Miguel’s five and the Beermen scored more turnover points, 14-7, in the last two periods — reversing the trend in the first half. What’s more, San Miguel wound up with a big edge in second chance points, 16-2, free throws, 19-of-26 to 7-of-17 and rebounds, 51-42. The Beermen also had five less turnovers when the smoke of battle cleared.

San Miguel’s extra possessions (the Beermen had six more field goal attempts) and 12 more free throw conversions blunted Talk N Text’s advantage in field goal percentage, .437 to .364.

Danny Ildefonso was San Miguel’s hero in Game 2. He scored the marginal basket on a baseline drive past Taulava with six seconds left. Ildefonso earlier slapped the ball away from Miller and regained possession for San Miguel with 23 ticks to go.

Ildefonso has scored in double figures in San Miguel’s eight wins in its last nine games. The only outing in the stretch where Ildefonso failed to hit in twin digits was when the Beermen lost a 79-77 verdict to Red Bull during the semifinals.

Talk N Text’s mission is to get back on track in the pivotal Game 3 tomorrow. A win will rekindle memories of 2003 and boost the Phone Pals’ confidence. A loss will mean in tennis terms, quadruple match point for San Miguel.

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